Photo by Syd Wachs on Unsplash
Every couple of weeks I have a conversation that goes like this:
Stranger/Friend/Relative: Are they twins?
Me: Yes, they are.
Stranger/Friend/Relative (pause): But they don’t look like twins.
Me (smiling brightly): No, they don’t, because they are not identical twins.
Stranger/Friend/Relative (longer pause): They look very different. Aren’t they identical? Since they’re both girls they must be identical.
Me: They are fraternal twins, not identical. They do not look the same.
Stranger/Friend/Relative (looking at me suspiciously): But why don’t they look similar? One has dark hair and the other is blonde!
Me (staring in disbelief): I’m sorry, I really don’t know why they look so different. They were kind of, um, born that way.
Stranger/Friend/Relative (disappointed): So strange, they don’t even look like sisters.
Me (getting desperate): It is really okay, we don’t mind that they look different.
Stranger/Friend/Relative (murmurs to themselves): That one is prettier…
Me (barely surviving the conversation): Each one is unique, we never compare them.
Stranger/Friend/Relative (clueless): Oh well, God bless the little munchkins. They sure look different though…
Me (in a defeated whisper): They. Are. Not. Identical.
Stop.
Repeat 12000 times a month.
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